Overview

Are humans the only creatures that can appreciate God’s creation? What if consciousness is spread more widely across all things? This volume examines panpsychism through the lens of Christian doctrine. Minding Creation is the first substantial examination of what a panpsychist theory of consciousness implies for key theological debates concerning God’s presence and action, evolution and the origin of the soul, human uniqueness and the environmental crisis. Joanna Leidenhag develops a theological panpsychism that is based on an exceptionally wide range of scholarship. Minding Creation draws on the theologies of historical figures such as Augustine of Hippo, Gottfried von Leibniz and others, in order to create a critical and constructive conversation with contemporary analytic philosophers of mind, such as Thomas Nagel, Galen Strawson, and David J. Chalmers. Leidenhag also discusses key concepts and issues, such as emergence theory, divine action, and ecology. She concludes that God created a universe from nothing which is filled with indwelling powers, sacramental value, and intrinsic experience. This is a creation in which the Holy Spirit is internally present at every point, a creation that worships God, and a creation that human beings must protect and lead in praise.

Full Product Details

9780567696212

Table of Contents

Reviews

Rigorously argued, philosophically astute, and theologically constructive, Joanna Leidenhag's monograph will generate intense debate on the theological potential of recent developments in panpsychist philosophy. In enabling us to consider its plausibility vis-a-vis the default position of emergentism, she has produced a work of originality and significance. -- David Fergusson, Professor of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, UK

Author Information

Joanna Leidenhag is Lecturer in Theology at the University of St Andrews, UK.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available